Judge, 1923-10-20 · page 23 of 36
Judge — October 20, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **commercial advertisement**, not political satire. The cartoon shows two men at a gas station—a uniformed attendant and a well-dressed motorist—discussing an automobile equipped with Kelly Cords tires. The joke/sales pitch: The attendant confidently assures the driver he'll have trouble-free travel because Kelly Cords tires are so reliable he won't even need the spare tire. This was a common advertising strategy—using casual dialogue to make reliability claims seem credible through word-of-mouth recommendation rather than direct marketing. The underlying appeal targets early-20th-century motorists' genuine anxiety about tire failures on poor roads. Kelly Cords promises durability across varied weather and road conditions. The phrase "costs no more to buy a Kelly" positioned the brand as offering premium quality at competitive pricing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“You oughtn’t to have any trouble this trip, brother. The engine's running like a clock and you won't even have to use that spare, if I know anything about Kelly Cords.” T is a great satisfaction, when driving a car, to know that you can depend on your tires. The motorist who uses Kelly Cords enjoys this satisfaction to the greatest possible extent because not only are they able to stand a tremendous amount of punishment without giving trouble but they are also surefooted on practically all kinds of roads and in all kinds of weather. It costs no more to buy a Kelly. comicbooks.com